House oversight committee chairman Rep. Darrell Issa, California Republican, has issued a subpoena to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) and to the NLRB’s general counsel. The subpoena is for documents Issa says the NLRB and its acting general counsel Lafe Solomon have failed to provide to his committee. Issa requested the documents in May.
The subpoena, issued on Sunday, requires Solomon and the NLRB to provide the House oversight committee with the documents by Friday at noon. Items Issa is subpoenaing include documents referring or relating to Boeing and the International Association of Machinists (IAM). Issa is also subpoenaing communications from Solomon’s office and the NLRB relating to Boeing or the IAM.
“NLRB’s action in the case against Boeing has the potential to create a job-killing precedent just as U.S. manufacturers are working toward economic recovery,” Issa said in a statement. “That a Washington, D.C.-based bureaucracy could dictate the work location and parameters for a world-leading company is unprecedented in a global economy and hobbles a leading American job creator at a time of economic vulnerability.”
The NLRB is pursuing a case against Boeing for starting a new production line for its Dreamliner jets in South Carolina. The NLRB’s case is based on the IAM’s claim that Boeing opened the new production line in South Carolina instead of Washington State, where its other facilities are located, as a way to retaliate against the union.
Issa said there has been bipartisan criticism of the NLRB’s willingness to take the IAM’s claims seriously. (RELATED: As NLRB deliberates on Boeing, union takes organizing into its own hands)
“President Obama and both Democratic and Republican Members of Congress have questioned the wisdom behind NLRB’s actions against Boeing,” Issa said. “As this matter could take years to resolve and create even more crippling uncertainty for job creators, it is imperative that Congress get complete facts about NLRB’s rationale and its decision making process in this matter without further delay.”
In recent months, as The Daily Caller has reported, IAM union members have attempted to unionize Boeing’s new workers in South Carolina. The new workers in the Palmetto State have repeatedly rejected IAM’s attempts. South Carolina’s right-to-work status makes it more difficult for organizers to round up workers.